Teddy Lupin lost his parents before he ever got to knew them, but the death of his Nan as a ten year old hits him harder. To be healed, he goes to live with his godfamily, and grows closer to a Weasley he'd never looked too closely at before. Their bond is solidified, and becomes more as they grow up, until a shock hits them when he is nineteen and everything changes all over again.
Rays shone through his curtains onto his currently light blue hair. Teddy Lupin rolled over lazily and looked to the clock ticking on well past the time his Nan always woke him up every day, every week, every year. A feeling of something uncomfortable and wrong settled like a pit in his stomach and Teddy hurried down the hallway to knock on her door. No reply. He tried again, and this time harder. The door freaked open a little, revealing a slither of a frail figure on her bed. He pushed the door open further despite the thickness in the air that told him what he didn't want to know without taking another step. Somehow his body pushed him onwards. "Nan," he whispered softly, then tried again louder, just like the knock, shaking her freezing cold arm. When she didn't reply he took a step back, feeling light headed, as though he were hovering over his own body like a ghost. He didn't even realise he'd moved, but then he was downstairs with a handful of Floo powder, throwing it into the dead embers from last night and speaking a familiar name through the clump in his throat. A face appeared in the fireplace, and for a moment he stood with his mouth open, unsure what to say.
"Teddy?" The figure pushed his glasses up to stop them from falling. "Is everything alright? I'm at the office writing a report."
He glanced behind him, giving her one last chance to come down the stairs, full of energy rather than lifelessness, scolding him for spilling the powder and not clearing it up yet. "Nan- she's- she's not waking up." He bit his lip. "She always wakes me up but she's not..."
Harry's eyes had widened as if he was trying to look behind him to see what was going on. "I'm heading right over champ, stay exactly where you are. What- have you- just stay there, okay?" He nodded numbly and obeyed. When Harry arrived with a couple of other aurors, the ten year old was in the exact same spot, not having even sat down. The other two adults headed straight upstairs, but Harry went to him, putting a hand on his shoulder to jerk him back to reality. "You like sleepovers at my house right?" He asked, his black hair flicking into his face. "How does a long one sound, huh?"
They side-along apparated to the Potter home, causing Teddy's stomach to churn as he was torn apart and reassembled. When they arrived, it let out a long low groan and Ginny came waddling over with a huge baby bump. "You haven't fed him yet? You love food! You eat as much as me and I'm eating for two!" She exclaimed. Harry shrugged guiltily. "Off you go! I'm three days overdue, I'm not cooking anything."
"Your funeral," Harry told her, heading off into the kitchen as a clatter of pans sounded and their three year old came stumbling in. "JAMES!" His younger brother grinned slyly like a plotter from his position on the floor with a pile of Lego's. It was all a cacophony of noise, but it was comforting. Everything felt normal, rather than jarring.
"I'll help."
"No, no." Ginny gave Teddy an allied look and sat down on the sofa, patting the little space next to her. Thankfully he was quite little, and managed to squeeze in. "She loves you," he glanced at her in confusion. "Lily. She always kicks when you're here. Have a feel." Obliging, he put a hand on her stomach, waiting for a moment before he felt a butterfly's glittering against his palm. A delighted giggle escaped his mouth, and he clapped his hand over his mouth, feeling immediately guilty. "It's alright," Ginny told him. "There's no right way to feel. Let out whatever surfaces. When I lost my brother during the war I had days where I cried, or lay in bed, other times I surrounded myself with family, ones where I laughed- sometimes at memories, often inappropriately." She moved her hand softly onto his hand as if he were a wounded animal. "Feel whatever you need to, that's all we ask of you Ted."
"Do you know a spell to knock the burnt bits off bacon?" Called Harry, as Ginny moved her hand to her stomach, grimacing.
"Are you alright?" Asked Teddy anxiously. One of the strongest women he knew, Ginny took a long well practised breath, then called for Harry to take her to St Mungos.
"But feed Teddy first!" She ordered him, refusing to leave until he'd eaten!
Being somewhere so stark and sterile naturally made Teddy think of his Nan. Despite the fact that she'd been in the familiar cosiness of her own home then, maybe now she was somewhere similar. Or perhaps she'd melted away. They could be casting spells on her body to find out what had happened. Or maybe they'd just put her into a grave. He didn't know what happened to you when you died. It had never bothered him before, but it occupied his mind as he sat in the waiting room with James and Albus, who were playing with a magically spinning top a nurse had put down beside them. She sat watching with amusement until she glanced over at him and asked, "Are you alright honey? Excited as your brothers seem for your new baby sibling?"
Another nurse behind her's eyes widened and she stepped forward to correct her friend, probably a muggleborn who wasn't as knowledgeable about the celebrities of their world. But he replied before she could say anything. "Yeah, I think I'm gonna be her favourite." The two women giggled, ruffling his hair in delight.
As he looked up again though, he saw his godbrothers' grandparents. Molly Weasley ran straight to hug him, nearly crushing both him and the warm tub of his favourite homemade Bertie Bott's Bean cookies- he wasn't sure which would have been worse. Thankfully both he and the freshly baked goods were fine, and Mollie practically stuffed them into her mouth- it was clear from whom Ginny had inherited her methods of comfort. Meanwhile, Arthur hovered behind his wife, waiting patiently for her to move onto the younger children so he could have his turn. When she did so he put a hand to Teddy's shoulder. It reminded him of Harry's uncertainty when he'd entered the kitchen what felt like weeks ago, but was actually just that morning. Arthur looked into his eyes, something he rarely if ever, did. "You're a Lupin," he told the young boy. "Don't ever forget it. But you've been eating dinner at their table four times a week, and now you're also officially a Potter-Weasley. It's a lot of family to take on, but our clan will treat you well," He promised, and with tears in his eyes for the first time that day, Teddy latched onto him for dear life.
Albus had nodded off on his lap, and Teddy's eyes were shutting too, when Molly gently shrugged him awake with a grin on her face. He looked up at her with wide eyes and whispered "she's here?"
The matriarch nodded, lifting James up with a cheer and he pulled Albie up onto his hip as well, following her into the hospital room. A strong lionly like cry roared out of a tiny body, but it trailed off as they entered. With the baby on her chest, Ginny's head whipped towards him happily. "I told you!" She declared proudly. "She loves you!"
From the chair pulled up as close as he could get it to his wife and daughter, Harry was also grinning at him. "Come over here Ted," And he gestured for Molly to bring James over as well. She placed the three year old in his father's arms, as Arthur pulled out a muggle camera and Harry directed him which buttons to press, taking a few hundred as they all laughed.
Teddy felt as though he were both invested and also standing outside watching them through the window. "What's her name?" He was surprised to hear his voice sounding hoarse from the crying and laughing, though he'd barely said anything today.
"Well her first name's Lily," said Harry as he played with his elder son's hand, the other child named after his parents. "But we want you to choose the middle one."
His mouth dropped open. "Wha- are you sure?"
The couple glanced between each other mischievously, and then Lily handed him the baby, keeping her hands below it for only a few moments before she relaxed back into her pillows. "See? You're wonderful with her. She loves her big brother." When she called him that his eyes began to water again. He looked down at little Lily, and her eyes flickered open, blue and blinking. His Nan used to be a midwife and she told him most babies were born with that colour- they'd probably revert to the green of her father and brothers soon enough. "Andromeda," he pronounced carefully, ensuring to get it perfect in case they misheard and spelled it wrong on the birth form. For his grandmother, and the mother who had wanted to wipe away the name- but old-fashioned ones were coming back into style. Neither of them would ever be forgotten.